Extension of Stay

[Michael2017 368]

Hi,

 

Is it considered a violation / misrepresentation if someone with a B2 visa enters the USA, and when asked about his stay by a CBP officer, confirms a short stay, e.g. 2 weeks, while within this time he changes his mind and extends his stay e.g for 2 months due to private circumstances. Of course, even the latter stay would be within the validity of his visa.

[Transborderwife 4,666]

No

[Cryssiekins 976]

Always be honest with CBP.  

 

The way I read that is that you already know there is a potential to stay longer than 2 weeks, so just explain that you've planned on two weeks but may extend

to 2 months if __________.

 

Though as long as you're not over staying or intentionally misrepresenting the purpose of your visit, you should be fine. 

[Scandi 3,970]

I guess it depends on what date was stamped in his passport, just because you have a visa that is valid for let's say 6 months doesn't mean they actually give you 6 months.

[Michael2017 368]

I am not talking about myself, as German, I have an ESTA no B Visa, but I am interested from a legal point of view what the correct answer to this scenario is.

[Redheadguy03 505]

34 minutes ago, Michael2017 said:

Hi,

 

Is it considered a violation / misrepresentation if someone with a B2 visa enters the USA, and when asked about his stay by a CBP officer, confirms a short stay, e.g. 2 weeks, while within this time he changes his mind and extends his stay e.g for 2 months due to private circumstances. Of course, even the latter stay would be within the validity of his visa.

If you are already considering that then yes. You must be honest with CBP and if you have to ask if it's legal you probably shouldn't be doing it. 

[Scandi 3,970]

The legal point of view is that you only have until the date in your passport to leave the country. If the CBP officer gives you 6 months, you can stay 6 months. If s/he only gives you 2 weeks, you can only stay for 2 weeks.

[MzJan 18]

32 minutes ago, Michael2017 said:

Hi,

 

Is it considered a violation / misrepresentation if someone with a B2 visa enters the USA, and when asked about his stay by a CBP officer, confirms a short stay, e.g. 2 weeks, while within this time he changes his mind and extends his stay e.g for 2 months due to private circumstances. Of course, even the latter stay would be within the validity of his visa.

If the plan initially is to stay 2 months then just say that your visit is for 2 months and explain you are on vacation or whatever else the reason is and ensure you have proof. 

 

If CBP realizes that on this trip you misrepresented yourself be prepared on your next trip to have your visa cancelled and they will state that you are not a true visitor.  That is the trend now when they check and see that persons stayed longer than declared their visas are being cancelled.

 

It is always best to be truthful.

[Michael2017 368]

1 minute ago, Scandi said:

The legal point of view is that you only have until the date in your passport to leave the country. If the CBP officer gives you 6 months, you can stay 6 months. If s/he only gives you 2 weeks, you can only stay for 2 weeks.

Thanks this is clear. But the question is, if you got e.g 6 months but told the CBP officer you would stay only 2 weeks. Can yous stay the 6 months or is it a misrepresentation because you told the 2 weeks when entering... Why i ask is, because more than 20 times in this forum here i read that people told the CBP officer they will stay short time, but finally stayed till the end of their visa validity. So, are they doing this legal or not? 

[Michael2017 368]

3 minutes ago, MzJan said:

If the plan initially is to stay 2 months then just say that your visit is for 2 months and explain you are on vacation or whatever else the reason is and ensure you have proof. 

 

If CBP realizes that on this trip you misrepresented yourself be prepared on your next trip to have your visa cancelled and they will state that you are not a true visitor.  That is the trend now when they check and see that persons stayed longer than declared their visas are being cancelled.

 

It is always best to be truthful.

Do you have any link to a report that describes this? Very interesting post but I personally have not see any such report on VJ.

[MzJan 18]

2 minutes ago, Scandi said:

The legal point of view is that you only have until the date in your passport to leave the country. If the CBP officer gives you 6 months, you can stay 6 months. If s/he only gives you 2 weeks, you can only stay for 2 weeks.

That is a misconception.

 

You are on a visitor visa and not a resident or citizen. Hence you are not expected to stay 6 months. Staying 6 months indicates that you live there or you were working there. It is best to limit the time.

 

All countries by virtue of treaty have agreed to give geniue visitors a 6 months landing but you are not expected to remain for the 6 months.  On your next visit you will be required to explain yourself and you better have a good reason. Such as fell ill and was unable to travel and have such proof from a doctor. Times have changed.

[Scandi 3,970]

Just now, MzJan said:

That is a misconception.

 

You are on a visitor visa and not a resident or citizen. Hence you are not expected to stay 6 months. Staying 6 months indicates that you live there or you were working there. It is best to limit the time.

 

All countries by virtue of treaty have agreed to give geniue visitors a 6 months landing but you are not expected to remain for the 6 months.  On your next visit you will be required to explain yourself and you better have a good reason. Such as fell ill and was unable to travel and have such proof from a doctor. Times have changed.

If CBP allows you 6 months, you can stay for 6 months. If they don't want you to stay for 6 months, they will give you a stamp with a closer date. It's completely up to them to decide and you just need to follow that. 

[MzJan 18]

2 minutes ago, Scandi said:

If CBP allows you 6 months, you can stay for 6 months. If they don't want you to stay for 6 months, they will give you a stamp with a closer date. It's completely up to them to decide and you just need to follow that. 

Scandi i will leave it at what i said because i am not guessing here. It is from my profession that i am speaking. I

[geowrian 22,335]

11 minutes ago, Michael2017 said:

Thanks this is clear. But the question is, if you got e.g 6 months but told the CBP officer you would stay only 2 weeks. Can yous stay the 6 months or is it a misrepresentation because you told the 2 weeks when entering... Why i ask is, because more than 20 times in this forum here i read that people told the CBP officer they will stay short time, but finally stayed till the end of their visa validity. So, are they doing this legal or not? 

If you plan to stay 2 months, then tell CBP 2 months at POE. If that changes later and the I-94 permits staying longer, then that's fine. If not, then EOS can be filed (although filing EOS with only a 2 week I-94 may raise some eyebrows by itself).

 

7 minutes ago, MzJan said:

That is a misconception.

 

You are on a visitor visa and not a resident or citizen. Hence you are not expected to stay 6 months. Staying 6 months indicates that you live there or you were working there. It is best to limit the time.

 

All countries by virtue of treaty have agreed to give geniue visitors a 6 months landing but you are not expected to remain for the 6 months.  On your next visit you will be required to explain yourself and you better have a good reason. Such as fell ill and was unable to travel and have such proof from a doctor. Times have changed.

If CBP grants an I-94 for 6 months, then the visitor is permitted to stay for 6 months - no questions asked. It would a violation of their duty to uphold the law to issue an I-94 for 6 months if they believe the visitor is likely to live or work in the US.

 

 But yes, if you stay inside the US for 6 months, then the rule of thumb is to spend at least 1 year outside of the US before trying to visit again. Otherwise it will probably be assumed that you are living or working in the US.

[Michael2017 368]

"But yes, if you stay inside the US for 6 months, then the rule of thumb is to spend at least 1 year outside of the US before trying to visit again. Otherwise it will probably be assumed that you are living or working in the US."

 

So, what you are saying is, that as rule of thumb, stay outside the USA double the time as inside on a visitor visa is the reasonable amount?